@lenvo65 Sorry to hear that, It’s unfortunate. If they had responded similarly to their competitors, they likely would have enrolled a student with stats higher than their averages and who would have become involved and engaged in the U of R community.
I have to say, in hindsight, Richmond was the one campus we visited where nothing was out of place, nothing was worn or showed its age, everything was pristine and frankly a bit “Stepfordish”. On the one hand it was impressive but it still gnawed at my sensibilities a bit. At the time I chalked it up to their ability to invest in facilities, maintenance and improvements through their sizable endowment for a school that size. Now I’m left questioning their priorities, wondering if investing in more potential future students would be a better expenditure from that big pile of money.
Oh well, they are climbing the rankings (don’t get me started on the rankings) and reducing the amount of merit aid (significantly smaller number of Richmond Scholars than in the past and Presidential Scholarship only worth 1/3 tuition). Perhaps the feel they are entering the rarified tier of schools for which merit aid is not as necessary to attract top students. Ultimately it may be that things worked out as they should have for my S…the students at Richmond didn’t seem particularly happy or friendly when we visited which put off several members of my family. I told my S…c’est la vie…go somewhere where they want you…you’ve worked too hard not to.
guys- a couple thoughts since I’ve been through this process a couple times now with my kids.
First - nobody should kid themselves that schools don’t value their rankings, and do things to improve upon them.
Second - I’m fortunate that my S got a Presidential scholarship (which keeps U of R in play for us), but there are a ton of kids that posted here that seem equally qualified but didn’t receive one. Sometimes its a crapshoot, sometimes it could have been a small thing on the application that held you back, sometimes schools are more generous in areas of the country where they don’t get a lot of acceptances. the diversity of geographical acceptances improves a school’s national rank, so this could be a factor.
Lastly - the decision on scholarships is not always final. If U of R is your dream, and its only doable with a presidential scholarship - write to the school and ask them to reconsider (yes you can do this). But I suggest that in your letter, you add some new information for them to be aware and to take into consideration - did you ace your midterms, did you get some special award, new community service, something special to draw attention to yourself. What do you have to lose, other than spending an hour or two in hopes of getting into your dream school.
To those of you upset you didn’t receive merit aid, have you gotten your financial aid packages? i didn’t receive a scholarship either I actually read somewhere only 1/9 students at UR do, however my finaid package was far above any other offers. Money is money even if it’s a grant.
Financial aid? If by financial aid you mean the opportunity to take out a $5,500 unsubsidized federal student loan, then yes…we received our financial aid package.
even if you can afford to pay, I do recommend take out the interest free loan. Why not. Just be diligent to save a little every month in a side account, so when you have to pay it back you have the money (plus you made interest on the money).
@pishicaca – it just means your assets are over the threshold for which U of R gives grants. I’m in the same boat. Have been somewhat fortunate that I have a wife that demanded we start saving for college 18 years ago - so at least I have a chunk for my S’s college. Unfortunately, if you didn’t qualify here, you most likely won’t qualify at other colleges as well. it definitely is disappointing. good luck.
@eiknarf Yes, same boat and I understand why…we too have been saving since S’s birth and so the financial aid situation is the same everywhere…there is none. We are full pay, so merit is our saving grace.
@OCDaddy That surprises me…must not have been the dorm we were shown on our tour. I hope your son is otherwise having a great freshman year! Wish UR would have worked out for my S, but with generous merit offers from several other highly-regarded options, paying full price there just doesn’t make any sense for us. At least we have good options and aren’t forced one way or another as so many are. Need to count our blessings, I suppose.
@MON824 thanks for the advice! We plan to do exactly that-already scheduled an Into the Web visit (the ExpRichmond weekend is Prom for her). Also have gotten FA pkgs from both, still waiting to hear from 3 other schools … but UR is still tops! Now we wait some more… wish ALL schools offered EA! The waiting is the worst!
@pishicaca I’m curious… are the $5,500 in Students loans ALL you had left to pay on your FA pkg?! Everything else was covered?! If so that’s pretty darn great IMO. My accepted D18 has incredible stats too… NM Commended Student, 33 ACT, IB Program plus 3 APs, 4.45/4.0GPA, 11th/350, Swim Team Captain/Varsity 6 years, President of Service Club and the Environmental Club, Model UN, several mission trip experiences and excellent LoR … however she got no Merit Aid (we were hoping Presidential or Richmond Scholar) only a Need-Based Grant, which we thought was generous and after her Self Help portion (student loans/work study) we are still left about $10K/year. Now I’m wondering if we should have expected more if all you have to pay is $5,500.
@askmother count yourself lucky if all you have to come up with is $10K. With remarkably similar stats and many leadership and service heavy ECs, S’s need based aid consisted of a very small grant and small loan, leaving us to pay $48K. More once books, travel and incidentals are factored in.
How I wish that were the case! No, the ONLY financial aid we received is the option of taking out the student loan. We are full pay, so no other need-based aid applies. So with no merit aid either, it would be us footing the entire bill. If you are down to $10k, I would be very pleased! I hope it works out for you and your daughter.
@ASKMother I think you misunderstood what @pishicaca said. The family is full-pay which means that the only FA their S18 received from Richmond is the $5,500 opportunity to take a student loan. They will need to pay $60K - roughly equivalent to Georgetown (where their S18 was also accepted EA).
@pishicaca@scholardad@gclsports thanks for the clarity! This is our first to go off and I think she navigated the admissions applications process fine (she applied to 11 schools because we had no idea what to expect) however all of this ‘how to pay for it’ information is something I’m failing at. Several schools she applied to only offer Top-Tier Merit so we figured they were long shots. Good luck to all!
@MON824 (this has nothing to do with thread topic - strictly LA info) … I’m curious how you travel to and from Richmond from home (drive, fly …) We are trying to think long term costs as far as how to get our D18 back and forth for holidays. I don’t mind the drive because my SIL lives in Marion, but not certain if best/realistic option for her. Also we are coming up 3/26 for her to do Into the Web, Lunch with Student and visit classes… would love to meet you! (I would have sent you a message but I’m not certain how to do that here!)
@dmsh68 has RD heard from UR yet? We are still waiting on 3 RD decisions from other schools, but she still loves Richmond as a top 3. As far as we can tell there are not many AL students on campus … seems like most are from above VA.
I hope your son is otherwise having a great freshman year! Wish UR would have worked out for my S, but with generous merit offers from several other highly-regarded options, paying full price there just doesn’t make any sense for us. At least we have good options and aren’t forced one way or another as so many are. Need to count our blessings, I suppose.